AquaCoil versus BlackIce Xtreme

[Player0]

No doubt now. The BlackIce Xtreme is a better radiator all around that the AquaCoil. Its pointless for me to give you exact numbers since your temperature results will vary greatly from mine. But if I had to give it a percentage, Id say the BIX are maybe 10% more powerful. And with quieter air flow, and at 1/3rd the size, these radiators are worth the extra $15 over the AquaCoil.

[NorthernYankee]

arghhh, I want one:D

--NY

[jaani]

BIX's are indeed great radiators for their size, but if you're willing to sacrifice a little extra space with a smallish Chevy or Toyota heatercore you'll wreap (sp?) the rewards in added efficiency.

Something like this Toyota heatercore would stomp all over the BIX in a liquid cooling application - 26cm x 13cm x 4cm on the left and 13cm x 13cm x 4cm on the right:

http://www.employees.org/~slf/la/la-both.jpg

Nice eh :) These things work well for passive cooling as well, the "Big-Arse" on the left keeps a 125W heatload under 50C without a fan. ;)

[Player0]

Lots of people say heatercores are the way to go. But, I havent seen any direct comparisons between the BIX and a good heatercore.

The small size is certainly an advantage, sinse my system is all self contained, but the real beauty of the BIX is the noise. Its low profile makes the radiators extremely quiet when air is flowing through it. As someone who has suffered loud powerful PCs for three years now or more, quiet has become very important to me :)

And cube is way quiet as is. I use two of the BIX in series. I may up it to 3 or 4.

[jaani]

Originally posted by Player0
And cube is way quiet as is. I use two of the BIX in series. I may up it to 3 or 4.

Yeah, the built in shroud really helps reduce noise typically associated with the increased backpressure when forcing air through a thickly-finned heatercore. I have a chrome BIX personally, got it off Chip from OCWC back when they were $99 USD. :O

Also, correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't it be best to run the two BIX's in parallel instead of in series? (By in parallel I mean: Y-ADAPTOR, loop1: radiator , Y-ADAPTOR, loop2: radiator, Y-ADAPTOR, etc.) This way the temperature differential between ambient and the coolant entering the radiator is greater, and the rad will perform at a higher efficiency. Just my .02...

[dicki]

in theory running the rads in parrallel would be best due to the increased temp difference but in practise you can never balence the flow of water correctly between the 2 radiators so you end up with one really hot over worked radiator and one radiator not doing anything.

i've allways found it best to run things in series simply due to the above reason

dicki

[minty_altoid]

hmm... maybe if you used 2 pumps, like so:

......| in
..____|____
..|.......|
.P1......P2
..|.......|
..|.......|
.R1.....R2
..|.......|
..|_______|
......|
......| out

P1,P2: pumps
R1,R2: radiators

('scuse the dots)

of course, you'd still get some flow imbalance from the pumps not being entirley identical, but this shouldn't be too bad unless the input gague isn't wide enough to allow each pump to have enough flow...

Hmm..

MA

[Player0]

Ive tried so many combinations of this it isnt funny.

If you use two similar radiators, and the same tubing lenght, than the waterload will balance between the two radiators okay without using dual pumps.

Anyway, series does work better. More flow restriction though, so you need a strong pump.

Lets take some silly numbers. Ambient is 20c. Hot water is 40c. Say each radiator is able to lower the delta T between water and ambient by 10%.

In series. 40c water flows through rad #1 and becomes 36c. It then flows through #2 and becomes 32.4c. Yes, the second radiator doesnt work as well because the delta T of the water-ambient is lower. You lose 7.6c total in series.

In parallel. 40c water flows through rad #1 and #2 equally. The water flowing out of each is 36c. You only get a 4c degree loss like this.

Buy two BIX and try this for yourself. The numbers arent as pronounced as in my example, but you will see a few degrees drop on your water temperatures im sure.

Why ever use parallel then? Waterflow I guess. Two blackice extremes in parallel can handle 2x the water as they were in serial. You could flow 1" line in to a Y splitter in to each of the two black ice. That extra flwo rate could really be useful for some application.

For computers tho...serial is best Ive found. In theory and practical terms. Not just BIX benefit from it either.

[DexterHolland91]

Any ideas on the best radiator out there? I'm using one gotten locally... it's better than the BIX but I haven't done any tests personally. I still have yet to find it mentioned anywhere online hehe. I should get some pics and have you guys help identify the elusive radiator. :D